Trust a Dream
by Tsuma-chan
Summary: Sachiko felt her determination mustering her confidence now that the gaze of Yumi couldn’t see the fright in her soul. Sachiko x Yumi
1. Chapter 1

A/N My fourteenth fanfiction! Argh!!

I'm sick in bed with my girlfriend toddling me. I feel miserable but I also feel warm, if that makes any sense? I guess this piece came from that.

This piece is somewhere before the graduation of the old Roses, probably about a month or so.

And I swear on my MacBook; there are English words in there… somewhere…

**Trust a Dream**

"Yumi?" Sachiko turned to her and seemed to think hard for just a moment.

"Yes, Onee-sama?" Yumi noticed the look, but thought nothing much of it. Sachiko was often deep in thought. It was one of the things Yumi loved about her. Though she also, just as often, wished she knew what Sachiko was thinking.

The air felt nice in the grove. The tall bushes and small birch trees making up the small enclosure, made it a haven from the world, a place of fairytale where you went, and came out invigorated and trouble free.

They were standing right under the canopy of the massive oak tree in the middle of the small grove as Sachiko turned.

"I… Yumi, do you trust me?" Sachiko seemed a bit tense and a cloud of anxiety swept across her features.

Yumi saw the anxiety. It hadn't taken Yumi all that long as Sachiko's petite soeur to 'read' Sachiko's different emotions. Right now she was anxious. Anxious and maybe even a little scared.

"O-Onee-sama?" Yumi had always been the caring and concerned kind, and right now all she wanted to do was comfort her Onee-sama. She took a few steps and went straight into an embrace of the surprised Sachiko.

The arms she felt around her was at first a little hesitant, but then relaxed and hugged her back. Yumi felt Sachiko draw a slow, deep breath, and let it out slowly.

"Yes, Onee-sama. I trust you." She spoke gentle as she leaned back in Sachiko arms and looked her in the eyes. "You never have to ask that question, Onee-sama."

"Thank you, Yumi." Sachiko said when she had the ability to speak for her galloping heart. She looked Yumi in her big mocha eyes and thought to herself; Am I really willing to risk this? But she felt the knot in her stomach tighten in response. Yes. Yes, there was no going back.

"Yumi, close your eyes."

"O-Onee-s" And then she realized the words she had just spoken seconds earlier would hold no meaning with all her questioning exclamations, she closed her eyes.

Sachiko felt her determination mustering her confidence now that the gaze of Yumi couldn't see the fright in her soul. She fumbled a bit with her pocket.

"Yumi, will you promise to keep them closed for the next few minutes, whatever happens?"

"Yes, Onee-sama." This time the words came promptly, though a little cautious note seemed to linger as she felt Sachiko roll up her sleeve. It was nothing more than a second or two, and then she felt warm, soft and a little wet press against her lips. It took her a few spins before she realized it was a kiss. Onee-sama was kissing her…

Sachiko's state of mind would have been a joy for Freud to dissect, but as of right now, she had to battle her demons by herself. She gently removed her lips and then gave a more proper kiss, and one more, and then she felt Yumi timidly kiss her back.

It didn't take long for Yumi to release her own desire through her own kisses. She felt oddly outside her body, as if she suddenly couldn't possibly belong in a body that Sachiko would be kissing. I was the strangest feeling, and she had to fight to come back to those kisses, those kisses belonged to her.

The small whimpers Yumi let out with her kisses were driving Sachiko mad. As if she had a wild beast loose in her body and now had no means of controlling it. When she finally did, she was pulling back finding Yumi, with her closed eyes, following her lips, almost climbing up her body in an attempt to sate her desire.

"Yumi?"

Yumi stopped her blind pursuit, a little out of breath and cheeks flushed an alluring pink of her fine features. The sight made Sachiko question her sanity for pulling back, All she wanted was keep kissing and…

"Open your eyes Yumi."

It took Yumi a second to slowly open her eyes. As if coming back from a pleasant dream she didn't want to part with, her eyes were big, mellow and soft and looking at Sachiko with love.

"Onee-sama…?" Just to make absolutely sure, that it was in fact Sachiko, and not a Swedish caribou she had been kissing.

"Do… Do you still trust me…, Yumi? It was a cautious question. How could she so suddenly after having violated her soeur, tell her what was the one thing she so desperately wanted to tell. She felt cold sweat running down her back and even though the grove was cozy and warm and, obviously, outdoors, she suddenly felt constricted.

Yumi slowly dug back in to Sachiko's embrace. She took a deep breath enjoying the smells of Sachiko. The arms closing in behind her were at first a little uncertain, but then held her with fervor as she felt Sachiko rest her cheek on her head.

"I think I'm in love with you, Yumi." She spoke gently and softly in the comfort of Yumi in her arms. Yumi, who had kissed her back. Yumi, who had come to her arms so easily, even after.

Yumi closed her eyes upon hearing those words. Those words she had so dreamed of, those words she had so wished for, those words she had always thought that there could be no hope putting future or faith in. Those words were now spoken softly to her and she felt a little tremble running through her core.

"I'm in love with you too, Onee-sama." Yumi said the words as she leaned back in Sachiko's arms. "I have loved you for so long." She saw the surprise spreading on Sachiko and smiled gently. I just…. I just never thought you saw me like that. I… I never felt you look at me… like that."

"I noticed, I…I saw," Sachiko talked her way out of her shocked state. "Yumi why didn't you tell me?"

"Oh," Yumi smiled. "What hope would a confused gay girl from a common family have with a noble rich girl already betrothed to a man?" There was no hint of anything but an old resignation slowly evaporating from Yumi as she spoke.

"I see…" Sachiko leaned down and gave her a soft lingering kiss. "And I understand." She said as she leaned back. Indeed, the insurmountable obstacles in front of Yumi must have seemed so hopeless that her dreams of a future with Sachiko, had been kept as just dreams.

"And now? Now that you know that I love you too, do you then believe in your hope?" Sachiko smiled gently as she cupped Yumi cheek, bringing a smile on Yumi. A smiling Yumi could bring even the best around, but this was no such smile. This was a smile of love, of trust and rarely seen confidence.

"I have trust in you. If you love me, why then, should I not trust my hope?" Yumi showed nothing but sincerity as she said the words gently.

"There might be difficulties ahead of us…?"

It was a question that required no other answer than the one Yumi gave as she leaned up on her toes. And Sachiko, who felt the motion, gently supported Yumi by putting her hands on her hips. It was kisses of comfort, of knowing that; as two we can brave all.

It was also kisses of desire, and the soft intertwining of tongues the small moans it brought. The moans spurred Yumi on in her explorations as she, in an ant trail brought her kisses to Sachiko's ear and nibbled her lobe, the shivers of pleasure brought a gasp from Sachiko.

Sachiko's body responded on its own by making better room for Yumi to move her soft pools of lava to her neck, where she gently settled in the nook with a stream of kisses meant only to please her Onee-sama.

Sachiko was floating on waves of whatever magic these new feelings in her body was. It was like soft big poundings of her heart making the blood in her ears whoosh so loud that one would think the air in the grove had picked up a sudden storm. She felt oddly detached from her legs, as if standing in thick air that helped support her as she felt Yumi's soft lips rain down, time after time.

"Yu…" She had to clear her mind. She blinked and swallowed. "Yumi… We… we have to stop…" Getting no immediate response from Yumi, who was utterly lost in her desire, her lust for this woman she had so secretly held in her heart for months and months. Sachiko gently pushed her back, getting a rather strong resistance from Yumi.

"Yumi? Not here, not now…"

Yumi blinked the haze over her eyes away, seeing a rather flushed, breathless Sachiko only made her arousal even more apparent, but as Sachiko held her, she had no choice but to calm down.

"O-Onee-sama?"

"Well," Sachiko smiled and caressed Yumi's cheek, putting a few stands of loose hair back behind Yumi's ear. "That was…" but her words ran out as Yumi dug into her chest once again.

"Onee-sama. Tell me this is not a dream?" The words from Yumi were barely understandable, but the notes of fear carried along just fine.

"I have asked myself that same question." Sachiko smiled as she put her head back to rest on Yumi's. "I think we are awake, Yumi." And for a time they stood just like that, swaying gently in rhythm. The gentle wind and the chirping of the birds in the grove surrounding them being the only sounds heard.

"Yumi?" Sachiko raised her head and seeing the dreamy look in Yumi's eyes as she leaned back and opened them, she knew the girl had had them closed the entire time.

"Do you like my gift, Yumi?

Yumi not quite understanding blinked a few times. Did she mean the kiss? The admission of love? Yumi didn't quite understand, and it showed clearly in her expression. Sachiko laughed, and gently raised Yumi's hand.

The gasp from Yumi and her big saucer sized eyes, showed clearly that Yumi hadn't noticed at all. There around her wrist, was a thin bracelet of pure gold in an intricate pattern of intertwined strands of the thinnest gold possible, each strand of gold would rival even the thinnest strand of hair. The mesh was mesmerizing in it's beauty. From the bracelet was hanging a heart, or rather half a heart, as if a full heart cut in half by a lightning. In the upper part, where the heart was thickest, was embedded a small diamond, one on each side.

Yumi's big eyes sought Sachiko's.

"I have the other half, see?" She pulled a necklace out in the same kind of intertwining gold strands and with the other half of the heart hanging. "I made yours a bracelet because of the rosary, but I have a necklace for you, for when you will give the rosary to your own petite soeur."

The necklace must have cost gazillions, but Sachiko spoke as if it had been 'just' a gift. But her eyes revealed the truth though; there was a lot of thought in these gifts. These had probably been ordered a while back as one-of-a-kinds, which in term spoke of how long Sachiko had held the plans and hopes and dreams for her admission of love.

"O-Onee-sama" Yumi smiled lovingly and blushed a deep red. Not because nobody had ever given her anything so beautiful, Yumi was certain that nobody had ever given anybody anything so beautiful before, But because she saw the love with which these were given, and with what hopes and dreams these were given.

"Thank you." She said first, as Onee-sama had taught her when one received gifts. "It's wonderful, absolutely wonderful." and she held the little heart and let her fingers caress it gently. Without knowing, Yumi's brimming eyes had let a few elusive tears escape. Sachiko made Yumi face her again with a hand under her chin, where upon she gently wiped them away with her thumb.

"I'm sorry, Onee-sama. I'm just so happy." She smiled bravely through her tears. "Please believe me." Her voice carried a pleading timbre.

"I believe you Yumi" Sachiko was smiling gently. She was happy and relieved that Yumi like her present. She hadn't known if jewelry was in Yumi's taste as she had newer seen any on the girl besides the rosary. "I will always believe you, Yumi." And she leaned in for a kiss that was well received and happily welcomed.

"Now then, are you ready to brave a storm with me, Yumi?"

"Yes, Onee-sama."

//-----------------//

My girlfriend just read this and said "Your hopeless". We've had a few conversation about me always writing about Sachiko and Yumi ;)

I told her I was sorry with a smile. I feel like I should do the same to you guys. Always trotting along in my sentimentality. I promise though, this one wont be just fun and games…

But on to next chapter! What are you loitering around here for!?


	2. Chapter 2

"You did what!?" Youko's even voice didn't convey the surprise and shock of her core. But her actions as she sat her cup down with a rattle, sending a teaspoon flying, did.

The Rose Mansion held only the two for now, but the rest would start idling in at any moment.

"I told her I loved her." Sachiko's voice was just as even, as she stood there by the window looking out. She thought back on the grove and smiled inwards at the memory. Her hand went involuntary to the heart hanging around her neck.

"And you kissed her!? What the hell were you thinking Sachiko?" Youko's voice held a dangerous timbre to it. Even though Youko usually showed only a calm collected exterior. Sachiko knew all too well the explosive power lying just underneath the surface.

"Yes." Sachiko looked at Youko, trying to gauge how far from the explosion she was.

"How the hell could you do that to her Sachiko?" Youko stood up, closing in on Sachiko who turned in defense. Youko eyes held a dangerous fire and her fine features could have been chiseled in marble.

"This was my decision, Onee-sama. I love her, I will not go on without telling her." Sachiko stood her ground. This was one fight she would not loose, one fight she would never back down from.

"And how are you going to fit that in with your little engagement charade?" Youko's fist were in knots. It was clear that she thought her petite-soeur had crossed the line. Taking advantage of her own petite-soeur in an effort to sate her desires.

"I'm not." Sachiko said quietly, effectively stopping Youko dead cold. For a moment she stood as if wondering the truthfulness of the words she had just heard. But seeing the expression on Sachiko and hearing her calm voice, there seemed little doubt. Sachiko spoke truth, somehow…

"What do you mean?" There was no way Youko saw a solution to this quandary. She knew of Kashiwagi's preference to boys. Did Sachiko have some kind of split-living in the marriage planned? She sat slowly, pensive in Eriko's chair, simply because it was the one closest.

"I mean; I'm not going to fit this into my engagement. Because there will no longer be an engagement."

"Are you saying that you will break it off with Kashiwagi? Go against the family?" Youko looked at Sachiko quizzically. This was certainly a new Sachiko. Just days or maybe weeks past, even the thought would have been preposterous to Sachiko.

"Yes… Somehow." Sachiko turned back to the window now that she was in no immediate danger from Youko.

"Oh my God, Sachiko! You don't have a plan?"

The silence in the Rose Mansion seemed to linger for a bit. The air between the girls felt laden with energi ready to be released at any given moment.

"All my thoughts were of Yumi." Sachiko looked down as she spoke gently. "I never planned ahead because, Really; what were the odds that she loved me back?" She looked a little forlorn at Youko. "I'm sorry, Onee-sama."

"You're sorry? You're sorry!?" Youko stood up so abruptly she sent the chair skidding back. "This is one fine mesh you have put yourself in. Hell! It's one damn mesh you put her in! What the hell were you thinking Sachiko!?"

Then and there the door to the upper floor opened and Sei and Eriko came in. The evidence of dispute hanging in the air thicker than fog immediately made Sei smile in anticipation. Eriko seemed to gauge the situation from a more cool, calm and collected standpoint.

"So, what gives?" Sei was grinning from ear to ear, getting no response, as always and therefore expected from Sachiko, standing with her back to her by the window, she turned expectantly towards Youko.

"Close the door" Youko said quietly, also, with her back to them. The tone of her voice leaving little doubt that she had absolutely every intention of hitting them with Gods wrath if they didn't comply. The smile left Sei's face, just as fast as it had appeared.

"We need a plan to break off Sachiko's engagement with Kashiwagi."

Nothing moved in the room. It was as if a moment in time had been stolen and given back as the perpetrator found no use for it.

All the Roses knew of the engagement of cause, it was also known that Sachiko was adamant in going through with the farce for no other reason than to please her family.

"What?" Sei's voice climbed incredibly fast through the scales of just one word. "Why? What happened?" Sei almost jumped the non suspecting Sachiko, but thought better of it. Sachiko was kind'a freakish when it came to being jumped out of the blue.

"It's not important." Youko quickly turned and said. Turned so fast in fact, that it was noticed by both Eriko and Sei. It was clear that some questions wasn't left for Sachiko to answer.

"You are asking our help, but not giving us enough information to properly judge or give credence to thoughts either way?" Eriko went to her chair and pulled it back to it's usual spot and sat. "That is not truly the best way of solving a dilemma. Wouldn't you agree?" Eriko was as always the picture of cool as she looked at Youko.

Youko turned and seemed to seize up the importance of Eriko's words, then measuring them up against the importance of keeping Sachiko's love with Yumi in line with the confidentiality in which it had been said. Eriko was by far the smartest in this room, and Youko knew that she needed her sharp wits in this.

As she was about to open her mouth, they heard laughter and footsteps coming into the house.

Yumi, Shimako and Yoshino and Rei came in together, only to be met with an atmospheric pressure ten fathoms deep.

Youko having decided, said loud enough for everybody to freeze "Yumi in, rest out!" Sei standing closest was eager to find out what was going on, yanked Yumi fully in to the room and began shooing the rest out as if they were piglets or chickens or something.

After safely closing the door in front of the confused soeurs, Sei turned and jumped the equally confused Yumi. But Sachiko, having turned as Yumi was singled out, spoke Sei's name once, but with so much frost in her voice that Sei felt chills in her spine. She let Yumi go, instantly.

The silence in the room lingered. Yumi was fidgeting and nervous, she wanted to go to Sachiko who was looking at her, but the silence was unnerving and dangerous to the point of explosive and her eyes spoke of her fright. Youko was looking at her thoughtfully, but then gently said. "Go to her." Indicating Sachiko with a tip of her head."

Yumi took a few tentative steps, but finding that no one was shooting cannons at her, she sped up a bit. She slid into a waiting embrace, feeling Sachiko's arms close protectively around her as she buried her head. She drew a relieved breath.

"Ah… Now I see…" Eriko was as perceptive as always.

"See what?" Sei was seeing nothing out of the ordinary except… There was something about that embrace that bothered her though.

"They are in love." Eriko said, smiling gently. Youko had been right, there was no other solution than to find a way to get Sachiko out of that travesty her family had forced upon her. If not, then these were the sure signs of tragedy in the making.

Sei just stood floored. Her image of the dainty little rich princess was shattered as she in fact turned out to be gay, not only that, but in love with her soeur. And that her soeur, the girl Sei had been teasing more times than she could remember, was gay too. Sei felt strangely stupid for having missed the signs, being the gay that she was.

"Let's get the obvious out of the way first. The choice of simply saying 'no' is out of the question?" Eriko looked at Sachiko with a pleasant look, as if they were discussing the menu at a restaurant.

Sachiko took comfort in the warmth of Yumi in her arms and drew a deep breath. "Well, at some point that will be a part of the solution. But we will need something to back it up with." She looked at Eriko and spoke in an even tone about the stupidity of her own family.

"This whole realization. That I loved Yumi, and wanted a life with her, also brought a weighing of my previous reasons for bringing the marriage to fruition."

"Even though I always planned to go through with it, it always came down to being just gratitude for the life I have been given. That and maybe a little fear of what might happen to my life if I didn't. Don't get me wrong, I love my family, and they love me, I think. But for them, life altering effects mean little to them, and they occur after just a word to a servant."

"But now I have a stronger reason." She smiled gently at Yumi, who looked at her with nothing but unabashed love. "I love Yumi, there is no way I could continue this life without her. Yet…" Sachiko suddenly lost a bit of her cool, and had to draw some strength from Yumi. "…yet I do not know how."

"Simply saying that I have found love with Yumi could make them go after Yumi's family, destroy their livelihood and ruin them financially. For now it's not an option and can't be disclosed outside this room..."

"I see…" Eriko was visibly shaken by Sachiko's calm words of the extremes her family would go to, all in the name of money.

"Do we know how Kashiwagi looks at all this? I mean; if he prefer his boys, maybe he's not too keen on this whole marriage deal either?" Sei stood in the kitchen and threw the question back casually as she was making them tea.

"Kashiwagi will undoubtedly want to go through with it." Sachiko seemed to have relaxed a bit, and the tension Yumi had felt in her body was slowly dissipating as she found nothing but willingness to help, and no chiding words from any of the Roses.

"His family stands to gain considerable by marring into our fortune. In the years since this marriage was arranged, our side has amassed while theirs has been more stagnate. No we will find no help from him."

"What about divorcing him?" Eriko had been in thought for a bit but had looked up, as always an untraditional solution to a problem had occurred to her. "I mean that way you've held up your end of the bargain, right?"

Sachiko seemed extremely uncomfortable for a second.

"O-Onee-sama…?" Yumi held Sachiko tight in her embrace and tried to convey some support the best way she knew how.

"There… there is the matter of the wedding night, and also the expectance from our families to… " Sachiko was feeling sweaty and wanted air, badly. "…to produce an heir." She finished meekly.

The silence in the room was suddenly deafening. Even Sei in her rattling with teacups, teaspoons and what not, froze in her steps.

"I see…" Eriko said after having cleared the shock from her mind. This problem was a terrible burden on Sachiko she realized, maybe it wasn't just the love for Yumi that had been an instigator to her 'coming out'.

Yumi let her head fall into Sachiko. Half of all this mess was hers, yet still, she felt like all the mess of the problem seemed to hinge on Onee-sama. Her own family would be rather indifferent either way, if she was with a boy or a girl. Surely her mother would have loved some grandchildren, but she would just wish for Yumi to be happy. Her father would be okay with whatever brought a smile to his little Yumi-girl and Yuuki…

Yumi looked up at Sachiko who was intently following the conversation of the Roses, but she felt the little tugs in her shirt from Yumi instantly. She looked down and was surprised to see a smile on Yumi's face. Well, it wasn't the fact that Yumi was smiling; it was more the fact that Yumi was smiling in this particular setting.

"O-Onee-sama, Maybe I know a way…"

//-----------------//

What!? What!!?? A damn cliffhanger!? Tsuma-chan! I'ma gonna kill u! Ahh! Wait, there's more to read!


	3. Chapter 3

"Is he in?" Sachiko looked at Saotho, her father's loyal servant sitting out side his study. He seemed to be in his usual blank state. Sachiko felt certain that it would take a rather large nuclear bomb under his chair to get the man to blink, let alone shake his world.

"Yes, Miss Sachiko." He stood immediately and bowed slightly.

"Fine. Hold this for me, Saotho" She handed him her little briefcase, and noticed with some relief that he took it gently and put it by his chair. He quickly sat and with an "Excuse me." Slid the door to the study open.

"Miss Sachiko for to see you."

"Ah, good, show her in Saotho" Sachiko heard the words from inside in a tone, revealing the inopportune of her visit. Nothing new in that, time with her father was something planned or scheduled. It was not a rule, just understood. That said, Sachiko knew he would always make a little time for her if she came to him, like now.

"Miss." Saotho slid back a bit and thereby making room in the door. Sachiko closed her eyes a second and drew a deep breath, steeling her resolve.

"Father." She said courteously as she stopped e few meters from his desk. She bowed respectfully. Even though she now had every intention of going against her fathers wishes, she still had respect for him, as her father but, mostly for his position and power.

"Sachiko! What a wonderful surprise." The words held a semblance of truth, for he did in fact enjoy his moments with Sachiko. He put his papers down and stood to get a refreshment.

"Would you like some tea, Sachiko?" He walked to the little silver cart with refreshments.

Osagawara Tooru was an imposing force in a normal size frame. He could be all smiles when it suited him, and he could be ruthless in a board meeting. At home he felt at ease and unguarded though, his casual walk revealed as much.

"Well I… Yes, please." Sachiko closed her eyes a second, but was quickly brought back to reality by Tooru.

"So, what can I do for you tonight Sachiko." It almost sounded as if he was suspecting her of asking for a pony or a pet turtle. Tooru sometimes forgot that his girl was now a young woman with her own credit cards.

"I'm not going to marry Kashiwagi."

The words hang in the air. Like grapes you could pick one by one. Sachiko blinked in surprise. Did those words come from her? She had a sudden urge to turn around to see if there was another standing behind her, someone intimate with her thoughts.

Tooru stood perfectly still by the cart. The cup in his hand seemed to have frozen in midair. It was but a moment, then he turned around with an amiable smile.

"Are we having a little anxiety attack about the marriage?" He came over and handed her an elegant cup with matching saucer. The tea smelled as exquisite as it was sure to taste. It was of cause made from the finest Chinese shortleaf, only the best suited the Osagawaras'. "You know, it's not as if the wedding is just around the corner, Sachiko. You still have University after Lillian to finish."

Tooru looked at her with a fond smile, that did absolutely nothing to disperse the ice in his eyes.

Sachiko felt chills and she quickly looked at her tea.

"I'm not getting nervous about the wedding father. I stopped being nervous about the wedding when I found out I wasn't going to go through with it." As if the heat of the tea had infused her spirit with a measure of renewed strength by mere touch of warmth alone, she looked Tooru in the eyes. "All I fear is how you are going to react to my decision."

Sachiko was in a state of panic. She had never, ever, gone against anything her father wanted or wished, therefore she had no way of knowing how he would react. Certainly he had never hit her or been violent in her presence, but once or twice she had seen him mad. She knew the beast in him, the beast stood mere feet away and she felt her core willing her to take cover.

Tooru seemed to size up his daughter, as if gauging how hard he would have to be to get his will through. A normal occurrence in a world where you only got anything done, by being the stronger opponent.

"Why?"

Sachiko blinked at the simplicity of the question. She looked at him a little confused.

"Why?" She repeated. Instantly giving herself a scolding. This was the kind of surprised exclamations that she had lovingly tried to remove from Yumi's mannerism. Even though she found it adorable, it was not really very ladylike.

"Yes, it's a simple enough question wouldn't you agree, Sachiko?" A hint of Tooru's ruthless intellect and imposing willpower shone through. "Or maybe it never even occurred to you to have a reason? Maybe you just wanted to call it off for the hell of it, is that it?"

"No!" She glared at him angrily for having taken advantage of her previous surprise. It was a typical attack in any debate, but this was a debate she couldn't loose. She tried to steal herself with a deep breath but found little comfort in the futile act.

"No, I have reasons. Suffice to say that he doesn't love me, but someone else, and… "She had to swallow quickly. "… and so do I."

If Tooru ever in his life had shown surprise, this was certainly one of these times. The fact that his girl was in love, felt so far removed from the world he pictured her living, that it was equaling nil. Sachiko was simply not the kind of girl that fell in love, period.

"Who?"

This time Sachiko was prepared, and his question met with a calm exterior.

"Does it matter, father? And honestly, I don't know the boy he is in love with either."

Tooru blinked a few times in rapid succession.

"Oh, you didn't know. Yes, he is gay." Sachiko tried to weigh the emotions of her father as he went to his desk and sat. His steps were a bit stiff but other than that, nothing but the act of finding support in a chair revealed his state of mind.

"Has he called of the wedding?" He asked quietly as he sat.

"Does it really matter?"

"Of cause it matters!" Tooru glared at her as his voice went up a few notches.

"Why? When I just told you, that I won't be marrying him." Satchiko was trying to win the argument as weak as it was. She knew she had no way of swaying Tooru just by asking nicely.

"Trust me Sachiko, you will marry him." The merciless undercurrent in Tooru's voice left little doubt that he had no intention of letting her off the hook.

"No father I will not. I too have a love, so unless you want the four of us to marry all together, I really don't see that happening."

You will marry him, or so help me I will rip your entire boyfriends family to shreds."

The silence in the room was only punctuated by the small tics and tacs of an old clock on the bookshelf. Several seconds seemed to pass by on it's own accord while emotions gathered.

"What do you mean?" Sachiko felt cold and her words came out by battling the vocal cords. It was hardly more than a whisper.

"Is it that hard to understand Sachiko?"

"I will squeeze every company everybody in his family work for, until every last one of them is financially incapable of supporting anyone." Tooru stood, the look in his eyes would have made a devil burn. To hell with this, he was moving in for the kill. This was his turf now, if she wanted to play ruff and tuff, she better be able to stand the heat.

"Listen to me Sachiko, and listen carefully, be cause this will be the last, and only, time, we ever have this conversation. You will marry the boy. You will marry the boy and be a good little wife, who knows, you might even be happy."

"Be happy with a man that will never look at me as anything but a obstacle whenever he yearns for his male friend. I doubt that very much father." Sachiko was pale but she was not backing down. She couldn't. Yumi!

"But you do have it wrong. I will _not_ marry him. I _will_ be happy in life and _you_ will help me."

Sachiko went to her father's laptop. "Allow me?" and she pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket, and with a prayer to Maria-sama that this better work. She opened a browser and tapped the few keys to a YouTube address. There on the screen a little piece of the beginning of the conversation that began just a few short minutes ago started showing.

"I think you will see that the quality is more than adequate to show us in fine detail having this conversation, father?" Sachiko stepped back to let Tooru see the screen. The sound carried through just fine to let even the finer notes in their voices shine in the small speakers.

"What is this!?" Tooru blinked, not fully understanding the complications.

Sachiko looked at her paper and read the words Yuuki had written down, so she could convey them with no mistakes.

"It's a webcam transmitting via Bluetooth to a laptop that then connects to a WiFi hotspot to the Internet." Sachiko looked at her father's pale face. The single pulsating vein that could be seen on his forehead spoke of emotions ready to explode.

"I think that's the right words anyway. Now; I would think it rather embarrassing for the world to know how the Osgawara family is forcing their daughter into marriage by threatening to destroy her true love's family on their livelihood."

"Where is this camera?" Tooru was trying to locate it by way of the direction it was shown on the screen. His voice was rough and shaky.

"Oh, over there somewhere." Sachiko was pointing to the bookshelves on the left. She actually knew exactly where Yuuki had put it, but there was no possible way, that Sachiko wanted to be close to Tooru when he got his hands on it.

"Don't worry father. It's just a few minutes of the beginning of this conversation that is available on the Internet. The rest will of cause be in my safekeeping. I wouldn't want any embarrassment to fall upon the family unless absolutely necessary."

Tooru had found the small webcam and yanked it of the shelf sending a few books flying haphazardly in the process. He threw it on the ground and smashed it with his foot, trampling it until hardly a single piece was attached to another.

Sachiko looked on with growing concern. Maybe she had taken this a tad bit too far.

"What do you want?" Tooru stood perfectly still, but the look in his eyes was one of a volcano ready to erupt.

"Want?" Sachiko looked at her father and suddenly saw the flesh and bone of the man. What was it in the end that made up this man? Sachiko went to him, keeping her eyes on his. This was the breaking point of this deal. This is where he had asked for her terms as opposed to his. This was where she had to stand her ground, for her, and for Yumi.

She stopped so close to him, that it almost felt uncomfortable, as if the personal boundary was pushed like a water filled balloon squeezed to the point of bursting.

"Do I look like I'm negotiating with you, father? I don't _want_ anything. I just wish for our lives to continue as always. What I _don't want_ is to marry that imbecile Kashiwagi. And I do think I have made I perfectly clear just how far I'm willing to go to make that point _crystal_ clear?" She kept her eyes locked with his even though it was almost painful under those imposing eyes.

Tooru seemed to measure up the resolve of Sachiko. This was certainly another woman than the little acquiescent girl he was used to. The smoldering embers burning for her beliefs he saw in her eyes, could definitely be the beginning of a woman that would demand more than her fair share of trouble in the future.

This fight though, this one he was unwilling to let go, but under the circumstances he saw no way out. It would be a scandal that could ruin far more business than what stood to be gained in the merger. It was a loss he would have to sweep under that rug called hindsight. Never let down your guard, ever.

"Fine." And without preamble he turned for his desk.

Sachiko's heart skipped a beat. What...? Was it over? Was she off the hook? Was a simple word such as that really enough to change her life so? She looked at his back. What gives you the right? The thought thundered her being forcing all the fear and anxiety to leave her.

"Oh, I almost forgot, father." The words left her in some sort of defiance to his arrogance. "When I start Lillian Uni, I will probably ask my girlfriend to move into the mansion. I want to see as much as possible of her outside school, since we obviously won't be going to Lillian together anymore. That won't be a problem will it?"

Tooru stopped dead cold.

Sachiko was already gone when he finally turned. She was squeezing the heart around on her necklace in one hand as she was walking with the briefcase in the other, the briefcase with Yuuki's computer. Only one thought was on her mind;

Yumi…

_The End_

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Mama Mia!! What you don't do for love... Thank you all for reading. As always I'm grateful you made it this far and. Please let me know what you thought, and maybe what you felt as Sachiko broke his knee and twisted his ankle ;)


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